Environment – Spring into Life

Our local Forest & Bird team have enjoyed seeing the signs of spring in nature this week. From vibrant kōwhai blooms to mysterious green orchids and distinctive bird calls, we have certainly been distracted by nature. If you are lucky, you might even have seen some of our native butterflies such as the rare red admiral emerging. If you want to know what to look for, visit Forest & Bird’s display as part of the Towards Predator Free 2050 exhibition at Estuary Arts Centre, where artist Pauline Smith has created a magical scene with live butterflies.

This is the time that many of our forest birds are nesting, and the riroriro/grey warbler is about to face its annual challenge; a  “brood parasite” that migrates here from the tropics each spring. This tiny, fast moving bird usually manages to have one clutch of eggs before this rarely seen creature arrives to target its second nest. Sounds sinister? Well, it’s actually the beautiful shining cuckoo, resplendent in iridescent green feathers and a striped shirtfront that lays its eggs in the grey warbler’s nest, leaving it to raise a huge chick. The shining cuckoo grows to four times the size of the warbler parents which are run-ragged keeping up with its voracious appetite. This is typical cuckoo behaviour and seems to do the grey warbler no harm. Interestingly, the adult cuckoo can feed on insects that are toxic to many other birds due to a thick mucous membrane in their gizzard. The shining cuckoo, or pīpīwharauroa, is native to New Zealand as a summer migrant and its call is one of the first signs of spring. 

A loud, upward slurring whistle is repeated several times, always ending with a downward whistle, distinguishing it from the song thrush, which makes a similar repeating call. Look it up on the NZ Birds Online website, alongside the grey warbler, and take a visit to Shakespear, Karaka Cove or Alice Eaves Bush for the best chance of hearing one.

Many locals are reporting kākā visiting, and it does look like their visits and range are increasing. Although not resident on the Coast, they are frequent visitors from Aotea/Great Barrier Island, and come in search of food from our cultivated fruit and nut trees, and flowering trees like kōwhai, as well as stripping bark to reach sap and insects. These birds are at high risk due to a lack of mature trees for nesting, and the fact that nesting in tree cavities makes them vulnerable to predation. So, if we want to see more kākā settling here, and bringing such joy with their crazy parrot antics, then we need to keep our mature trees and of course, trap those introduced predators. 

These birds are vulnerable to predation from introduced pests like rats and stoats. So, make those visits another reason to set your rat trap from the Pest Free Hibiscus Coast Project. Not got one? Email pfhc@forestandbird.org.nz to request a visit.